PHOENIX — PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claimed Friday that he is eligible to run in enough states to win the presidency as an independent candidate, but there is a key caveat: At least 10 of the states have not certified his candidacy.
Kennedy is racing to secure a place on the ballot in states with at least 270 electoral votes, the minimum required to become president, before the June 20 deadline to qualify for a CNN debate later this month.
Kennedy’s campaign said he submitted 3,300 signatures in Minnesota on Friday, putting the state on the list of 19 states with 278 electoral votes where he claims access to ballots. But as the campaign itself admits, at least half of those states have not verified that its entry is valid.
CNN has indicated it will not count states where Kennedy requested but did not confirm access to ballots. Kennedy filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission last month, alleging that the cable network colluded with the Democratic President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to exclude him from the debate.
Kennedy also failed to meet the debate’s requirement of at least 15% in four reputable polls.
Biden and Trump agreed to the CNN debate and a second one on September 10 hosted by ABC, bypassing the nonpartisan committee that has organized debates for nearly four decades.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and prominent anti-vaccine activist, dropped his Democratic primary challenge to Biden last year and began campaigning as an independent. One of the biggest obstacles he faces is a costly and time-consuming requirement to secure access to ballots on a state-by-state basis, requiring him to collect millions of signatures to be verified by election officials before his candidacy is approved.
He is built up a loyal following among people dissatisfied with American institutions, including government, corporations and the media, an ideologically eclectic group that will have an unpredictable impact on the election. Biden and Trump both fear that Kennedy will attract voters who would otherwise vote for them.
